In the video Monica Beglau, Executive Director, and Doug Caldwell, eMINTS Instructional Specialist, share what makes eMINTS successful in both improving teacher effectiveness and raising student achievement. The keys to the success of the program lie in its continued professional development spread throughout the year being relevant to the teaching, connected to the learning, and supported by face-to-face coaching.

Doug Caldwell, the eIS featured in this profile video provides that support and more. The Instructional Specialist at eMINTS take on several roles in the eMINTS organization.

Doug Caldwell, eMINTS Instructional Specialist

Doug lives in Lynchburg, Missouri, (pop. 75). He has been with eMINTS for 12 years and has trained countless teachers. While working at the eMINTS National Center he wears many hats. Not only does he facilitate eMINTS Comprehensive Professional Development sessions he also visits teachers in their classrooms to help them implement what they are learning through coaching, consulting, and collaborating. Doug is a Senior Trainer for the Intel program, presents at local, state, and national conferences, supports district technology staff as part of the eMINTS4Techs program, provides custom PD including training for veteran eMINTS teachers, and serves on various committees. He does all this with his ever present easy going attitude and smile on his face.

Tell us about your connection with eMINTS. What eMINTS program/s have you participated in? Who is/was your eMINTS Facilitator? What eMINTS accomplishments are you most proud of? And if you haven’t had the opportunity yet to become part of our eMINTS “family”, what might be the most appealing part to you?

The eMINTS National Center is a non-for profit organization that has provided comprehensive research-based professional development services to educators since 1999.

On July 25, the Edutopia’s Schools That Work profiles the eMINTS program as it has been implemented in the Hartville R-II School District located in Hartville, MO. The Hartville School District has implemented the eMINTS program at multiple grade levels from elementary through high school over the past seven years. The district was selected by Edutopia not only for its high levels of performance on standardized assessments but also for its strong showing on other measures of student performance such as graduation rate, number of students completing advanced courses, and career education placements.

Edutopia, sponsored by the George Lucas Foundation, is a digital treasure trove of resources, ideas, and communication opportunities for educators, parents, and others who are interested in improving the K-12 learning process. Edutopiahighlights evidence-based strategies that prepare students to thrive in their future education, careers, and adult lives.

Edutopia film crews visited the eMINTS National Center offices and the Hartville School District in April to capture footage about the eMINTS professional development programs and how they were implemented in Hartville. The crew interviewed program leaders, Monica Beglau and Lorie Kaplan, about the ways that eMINTS helps teachers learn how to integrate technology into classrooms so that learning can be transformed.

The interviews provide insight into how eMINTS professional development is one of the few programs that has lasting positive impacts on how teachers teach. The crew travelled to Hartville to film an eMINTS professional development session and then followed teachers into their classrooms to observe how the professional development changed their practice.

In addition to the feature video, eMINTS has shared program resources that teachers can use in their classrooms to integrate technology in more effective ways.

Happy Wednesday/Hump Day (HD), everyone! Here are a few useful links to get you through your week.

Lifehacker provides some nice advice in their “Emailable Tech Support.” Today’s post [How to Browse the Web Using Tabs (for Beginners)] features the basics of tab browsing, which can be an effective and useful practice to get into when doing online research. Sometimes, we are more likely to return to a task or webpage if the tab is left open as opposed to copying the URL or bookmarking the page.

Trying to teach debate or opposing viewpoints in politics? Mashable points out that YouTube is launching a channel where they match members of Congress debating two sides of a given issue. As is typical in the beltway, things can get pretty heated. So, you’ll want to preview the debates before sharing them with students. Read “YouTube Matches Congress Members For Debates On New Town Hall Platform” here.

Looking for a simple file sharing app? How about one that is so simple that sharing can happen by simply dragging and dropping files? Check out Fyles, the free service that provides 2GB of space, a link for your shared items, and a password for future deletion. (via Lifehacker)

From Google Labs (via EdTech Toolbox) comes Google Public Data Explorer. With this tool, students can compare data sets and create their own infographics. Easy to explore, visualize, and communicate data sets, Google Public Data Explorer is another free tool from your friends in Mountain View, CA.

Edutopiaaddresses the differentiation issue with a specific example of how one school in South Carolina is utilizing technology to provide individualized learning facilitation that works. Even without loads of technology, the tips provided are good things to keep in mind for your own differentiation, but with technology the article demonstrates how powerful technology can be in the diverse, 21st century classroom. (H/T Edgalaxy)

Zac Early is an instructional specialist for the eMINTS National with a rather large number of subscriptions in his Google Reader that he follows so that you don’t have to.